Nigeria's curve is back under pressure after a decision to delay this weekend's presidential and parliamentary elections added to the tension building in the country, which has already become one of the biggest victims of the collapse in oil prices. Polls were originally scheduled for February 14 but have been moved back six weeks to March 28 by the independent National Electoral Commission, citing security fears. By Friday, the long end of Nigeria's curve had widened by more than 50bp over the course of the week, with the sovereign's 2023 notes trading at a Z-spread of 574bp, according to Tradeweb - but that was still about 40bp inside its record wide set last month. Political risks and lower oil prices led Standard & Poor's to place Nigeria's rating of BB- on negative watch this week. The rating agency said Nigeria's current account could slip into a deficit of 1.8% of GDP by 2017, instead of a surplus of 3.3% as originally envisaged.
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